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Chancellery Election of 20 NE (Stonewall Federation)
The Chancellery Election of 20 NE was the second non-provisional Chancellery election in the Stonewall Federation. The previous was the Chancellery Election of 14 NE (Stonewall Federation). The election was held on September 19 of 20 NE, where the Constitution Party ticket of Senator Danny Biar of Lee and Congresswoman Ruth Ulic of Cleburne defeated the other three party tickets for positions of Chancellor and Vice Chancellor, respectively. The other candidates for this election included former Governor David Polenski of the Liberal Party, and Vice Chancellor Don Flashsk of the Stonewall First Party. Current chancellor Theodore Jackson contemplated throwing his hat into the ring on the Constitution Party ticket and initiate a primary election between him and Biar, however his public opinion was so low it would be pointless to attempt a run. The popular vote on each planet determined the electors each member's government would select to vote in the Federation's Electoral College, of where there are 5,000 electoral votes. Of the sixteen planetary and three territorial governments, only six have a winner takes all system. The rest have a regional electoral vote system where a planetary or territorial member can split its electoral votes. Biar and Ulic won a plurality of estimated electoral votes at 1,979 votes. In the Federation as a whole, over 1 billion votes were cast equaling about 58% of the total eligible voting population. A hot button issue that erupted, harming Chancellor Jackson's popularity, was the secession of Aelian and Muhrian territory on Earth. Jackson steadfastly opposed the measure, threatening to intervene with troops. However, the House of Representatives and the Senate overrode his veto on the Secession of Aelian and Muhrian Territory Act. Jackson's conduct during the UCP Crisis, Privarz Rebellion and the Davis Conflict brought up the question of using military on domestic planets against the Federation's own citizens. Some of the candidates argued this to be acceptable for a planet in revolt, however clarified that Jackson may have gone too far. There was some minor outcry from the Whig Party and Liberal Party since another Constitution Party chancellery candidate was elected, however there was little that could be done as the election was legal under the Federation Constitution. Nominees Constitution Party Nominee The Constitution Party initially nominated Senator Danny Biar from Lee to run in the general election after Chancellor Jackson initially declined to run again, announcing as much at a press conference in February. However, Jackson changed his mind and decided to throw his hat into the ring to try for a final term. However, the primaries held in March gave Biar a 60% lead over Jackson. Biar easily clinched the nomination and public polls put him at a slight lead over other candidates. Biar ran on a platform of keeping the Stonewall Federation's government limited in size, with a strong desire to reduce it further. He felt that the government had grown bloated in Jackson's time, particularly military expansion, and that the military should be held at current levels without expansion. Biar was a proponent of lowering the flat tax level across the board, promising to leave families with more money in their pockets. on the floor of the House.]] Biar chose Ruth Ulic, Congresswoman from Cleburne and House Majority Leader, as his running mate. Ulic was a staunch constitutionalist, and like Biar, believed in upholding it to the letter. Biar and Ulic both proposed withdrawing membership for the Federation from the Galactic Empire and the United Imperan Directorate due to both organizations' decline. However, both pushed to remain a member of the Barlat Concordiat. Early in the election season, Biar and Ulic both supported and pushed through the Secession of Aelian and Muhrian Territory Act through their respective houses. This act gave the Federation territories in Aels and Muhr the choice to form their own independent government should they choose. Stonewall First Party Nominee ]] The Stonewall First Party nominated Vice Chancellor Don Flashsk, who also served as the party's chairman, to run in the Chancellery Election. This was the third time Flashsk had been nominated to run for the chancellor's office. Although he served as Chancellor Jackson's vice chancellor, there was much friction between the two over ideology. Flashk ran on a platform that was considered more extreme then Senator Biar. He supported stripping the government down to further bare bones than what the Federation was at it's incarnation in 11 NE. Flashsk believed in reverting back to backing the currency with precious metals, however critics claimed this was a poor stance due to other nations' abilities with alchemy to create metals and flood the market. He ran on a plank of reducing the military to pre-Confederate War levels, essentially leaving the Federation with less than 1,000 ships for defense only. Per his party's platform, Flashsk was an outspoken opponent of being a member of any intergalactic alliance. He could be considered a staunch isolationist in that regard. Like Senator Biar, he supported removing the Federation from the Galactic Empire and the United Imperan Directorate, however he also believed the Federation should remove itself from the Barlat Concordiat as well. He feared that entangling alliances would drag the Federation into petty wars, like Jackson had with the Holy Trek conflict some years before. Flashsk was a staunch supporter of the Secession of Aelian and Muhrian Territory Act as well. Flashsk chose Senator Harry Harter from Wirz as his running mate for the election, citing his steadfastness in putting the Stonewall Federation before outside governments or organizations. Liberal Party Nominee Like in 14 NE, David Polenski of Wirz was nominated to run as the Liberal Party candidate. Polenski served as the governor of Wirz until 15 NE when he decided to resign for unknown health reasons. Prior to serving as governor, Polenski served as a Democrat Representative in the Confederate States of America. Polenski was a staunch supporter of beginning a graduated income scale tax on the population. Currently, the tax system was a tariff system with a flat 13.5% on earnings across the board, regardless of income. Polenski advocated for a new United Nations to be formed with the Stonewall Federation at its head like the United States had been of the old one. Further, he advocated for a limitation of some civil rights, such as firearm ownership and limitation of free speech directed towards the government. Polenski advocated dismantling the militia system on many planets, feeling they were unnecessary for a civilized society. Lastly, he also advocated for joining more outside alliances in order to have a say on the galactic stage. Polenski was a staunch opponent of the Secession of Aelian and Muhrian Territory Act. He believed they were too valuable too lose from the Federation. Polenski chose Representative Jaina Alkju from Semmes as his running mate for the election. Alkju was one of few representatives who were a member of the Liberal Party. There was much concern of her joining Polenski, since she could very well lose her seat in the House if she did become the Vice Chancellor. In that instance, it would be difficult to field a Liberal Party candidate on Semmes for an open seat. Federation Whig Party Nominee For the first time in two election cycles, the Federation Whig Party nominated a candidate for the Chancellery Office. The party nominated Sebrina Chalotse, a Senator from Davis. Chalotse had served in the Senate for twelve years and was well known as working between the major political parties to come to a consensus. She regularly worked with Senate Majority Leader, Danny Biar, on many issues and bridged the gap between himself and the Senate Minority Leader. Chalotse was the first female to run for the office of Chancellor. Her campaign focused mostly on increasing military strength in order to protect the Federation. At the time of this writing, she had not chosen a running mate yet. Chalotse ran on a platform that varied somewhat from the Constitution Party, Stonewall First Party, and the Liberal Party. Considered a moderate party nominee, Chalotse ran on a platform of expanding the government slightly to keep up with the demands of a growing society. Further, Chalotse supported expanding the military to augment the the different intergalactic organizations the Federation was a part of. She felt it was the Federation's duty as a militarily powerful state to assist other governments when requested. Chalotse was the only candidate who explicitly supported expanding the planetary militia system, where all males under the age of thirty-five are required to train monthly at their respective base to stay in fighting shape. This idea was strongly opposed by Liberal Party nominee David Polenski, however the other candidates did not take a stand. Like Biar, Chalotse supported cutting the tax on many families in the Federation. Chalotse did oppose the secession of the Muhrian and Aelian territories, feeling that it set a dangerous precedent for other Federation members. Lastly, Chalotse supported upgrading and expanding the Stonewall Federation Space Corps, particularly replacing the last aging Venator II-class and Imperial II-class Star Destroyers. She believed it would be appropriate to increase recruiting efforts across the Federation, particularly in high schools. Results The election was held on September 19, 20 NE. The election process went well without flaws throughout the day. In exit polling, it was thought that Senator Chalotse would come out on top since she was a clearly indicated favorite. As the evening progressed and votes were tallied and certified, it became clear that Chalotse would not be Chancellor. As results came in, Senator Flashsk had an early lead, however that lead fell to Biar's increasing number of estimated electoral votes. By the end of the night, Biar had secured a plurality of 1,979 estimated electoral votes, making him the Chancellor-elect. Once the election results were certified on September 20, the Electoral College met in Stonewall City on September 29 to cast their votes for candidates. The electors cast their votes as was predicted, and Danny Biar assumed office October 1 as Chancellor of the Stonewall Federation. Aftermath Unlike the Chancellery Election of 14 NE, there was no attempted coup d'ètat. However, Liberal Party members of Congress and the Senate staged a sit out at the capitol, where they refused to engage in business for the new session. There was a lot of anger and concern over Liberal candidate Polenski's 19 electoral votes, when he earned as much popular vote as Don Flashsk throughout the Federation. However, there was no concentrated area of Liberal candidate votes cast to earn Polenski enough electoral votes to be a real contender. Category:Stonewall Federation